May 28, 2008

This month's challenge was brought to us by Lis of La Mia Cucina, Fran of Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie, Shea of Whistful and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice. Our baking this month is dedicated to Barbara of Winos and Foodies, who is no longer an active member of the Daring Bakers, but will always be an honorary Daring Bakers for her bravery and character in the face of a challenge. To our wonderful hostesses, thank you for an incredible frolic in the kitchen. Barbara, thank you for showing us all how to live life with courage and great joy. The lovely Barbara, is the force behind the food blog event called, A Taste of Yellow, it supports the LiveSTRONG Foundation started by Lance Armstrong.

The Opera Cake is an elegant and beautiful French dessert that was believed to have been created around the early 1900s. Many people credit Louis Clichy with inventing the cake that is sometimes referred to as the Clichy Cake. This recipe is based on the Opera Cake recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle & Timothy Moriarty's Chocolate Passion.

I had a great deal of fun making this recipe, making New Orlean style pecan pralines, roasting pecans for pecan meal, making syrup and joconde. My children weren't thrilled in the beginning with this recipe, but they quickly came around when they tasted the cake. A light and moist sponge cake, it is delicious alone and with the buttercream. The ones I made for my husband and myself had the extra layer of the white chocolate mousse made with honey, Rooibos tea, and Jack Daniels. Alas, there isn't much of this cake left over. The Opera Cake is a thoroughly delightful recipe and one I'll make again.

1. Divide your oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line a jelly roll pan (15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1) with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, or a mixing bowl (if you are using a hand mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy.

3. Change to the paddle attachment, and beat in the almond and pecan meal, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light, about 3 minutes.

4. Slowly add the flour and beat on low speed just until it is combined. Be careful not to over mix.

5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the meringue into the nut mixture and then fold in the melted shortening. Spread the batter, evenly to cover the entire surface of the pan.

6. Place the pan in the middle of the oven. Bake until the cake layers are lightly browned and just springy to the touch, about 5 to 9 minutes. Note: I baked mine for 9 minutes.)

7. Place the pan on a heatproof surface, then loosen the cake from the pan. Cover the cake with a piece of parchment paper and lay a cookie sheet upside down on top of the paper and the jellyroll pan. Turn the pan with the cake in it over and remove the jellyroll pan. Carefully peel away the parchment paper from the cake and then cover the cake with it. Note: You may need to hold the cake down with your finger tips as you ease away the parchment paper. Allow the cake to cool until it is room temperature.

* Pecan Meal - I made pecan meal by roasting pecan halves on a cookie sheet in the oven for 15 minutes at 325 degrees. Then I dumped them into the bowl of the food processor along with 2 Tbs of arrowroot starch and processing until the nuts became a fine meal.

Syrup for Joconde

1/4 cup water3 Tb cane sugar1/2 to 1 Tb mesquite honey

1. Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the sauce pan and bring to a boil.

2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until it is room temperature.

1. Combine the sugar, water and praline in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.

2. Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy or instant read thermometer. Then remove from the heat.

3. While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk the eggs until they are pale and foamy.

4. When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature, reduce the mixer speed to low and very slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl. Be careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl, but don't worry about it as it will harden.

5. Raise the mixer speed to medium high and continue beating until the eggs are thick, satiny and cool to the touch (about 5 minutes).

6. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the vegetable shortening and cocoa butter. Once the shortening, coconut oil and cocoa butter are incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.

7. Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it's set and firm enough to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes). Note: You may need to chill your buttercream for a longer period of time before it firms up enough to spread.

* Praline - I made New Orlean's style pecan pralines for this recipe and then chopped them. The recipe comes from Sherry Yard's The Secret of Baking. This recipe will be my next blog post and will be posted on Friday, June 1st.

** You can substitute butter or all vegetable shortening in this recipe.

1. Dump the white chocolate, Rooibos tea and cocoa butter in a small sauce pan. Then gently stirring together until the chocolate and cocoa butter melts and to keep it smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, pour in the melted chocolate mixture. Begin beating on medium speed, until the mixture is creamy. Then dump in the honey, whiskey and shortening and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy.

3. Refrigerate until you are ready to use. Note: You may need to set the mousse out to warm up in order to spread it.

* Rooibos Tea - It is a tea made from the leaves of the Rooibos bush from South Africa. I used 3 tea bags to 1/3 cup of water make the very strong tea. If you cannot find Rooibos tea, you could substitute Honeybush tea for it. Or you could use 1/4 cup of almond milk or heavy cream instead.

2. Let cool for 10 minutes and then pour over the chilled cake. Smooth with a spatula to get a smooth and even layer.

3. Place the cake in the refrigerator until set.

* Rooibos Tea - * Rooibos Tea - It is a tea made from the leaves of the Rooibos bush from South Africa. I used 3 tea bags to 1/3 cup of water make the very strong tea. If you cannot find Rooibos tea, you could substitute Honeybush tea for it. Or you could use 1 Tb almond milk or heavy cream instead.

Assembly of the Opera Cake

1. Cut strips of parchment paper that are the width of the roll of the parchment paper and 4 inches wide. Have some tape ready to hold the parchment paper together around the cake.

2. Cut out circles of the cake using a round pastry ring or cookie cutter. Using a pastry brush, paint one side of each cake round with the honey syrup.

3. Then set the parchment paper around the cake in a tube and tape to hold the tube shape.

4. Spoon some buttercream on top of the cake round and smooth until the mixture is even. Then ease into the tube another cake layer. Spoon the mousse mixture on top of this cake layer and spread evenly. Set another cake layer into the tube and cover with a layer of buttercream.

5. Place the cake into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes before glazing. When the buttercream is firm, pour the glaze on top. Then set the cake back into the refrigerator to chill.

Looks beautiful!! I love the addition of pecan meal, mostly cuz I love pecans in just about anything!Thanks so much for all your support on the Alternative DB forum this month (for all of us). Also looking forward to next month's bake along :-)

oh pecans and praline sound great. I've never had Rooibos tea so can't really imagine what those layers taste like but it looks great. I love this cake was nut based it give so many more options to mix things up.

Love your photo of the cake! Almond and pecan with your praline and Rooibos tea (had to look that one up, now have it on my ever growing list of things to look for) great flavor combination. I did like this joconde cake layer, I really hadn't done anything with so little flour and mostly nuts before.

Your cake looks so sweet! I love that side dusting of colored powdered sugar! Jack Daniels and rooibos takes the award for original flavor combinations. I have never had a rooibos but must try it soon. I felt confined by not being able to use chocolate or coffee - you face this kind of challenge daily - you are an inspiration. Great challenge. Wendy

I've visited lots of opera cakes over the last week, and you're the first rooibos-flavored one I've come across. Very unique. The praline sounds good too - I like a bit of crunch in a dessert. A very pretty cake too with the piped treble clef.Shari@Whisk: a food blog